Lawked Flame (3 page)

He touched her shoulder, and she whirled on
him. “Don’t touch me.”

He back up a few steps, his eyes wide. “I am
most sorry. Forgive me.” Between sounding pitiful and his face
losing its glow from a moment before, she felt like the biggest
jerk.

Tempering her voice and hoping the smile on
her face appeared sincere, she backtracked. “No, it’s okay, you
just surprised me.”
And I don’t like people I don’t know
touching me; bad memories - don’t go there.
“Which way to
eat?”

The moment the question left her mouth, the
sweetest aromas split the air. She inhaled and felt as though she
would levitate following after the smells. “I want some of that.”
She glanced at him. “Come on, Lorenzo. Let’s eat.” At the back of
her mind, a warning blared at the coincidence of the smells and her
comments, but she was so hungry, she pushed it aside to examine
later.

He waved her forward, remaining a cautious
distance. They turned a corner and Alayna stopped so abruptly,
Lorenzo bumped into her.

“I am sorry. I did not realize you had
stopped.” He tripped over himself trying to apologize.

She waved him down and pointed at the large
building in the middle of the block. “Is that a Woolworth over
there?” Her head whipped from him to the building, back to him
again. “I’ve seen pictures of my grandmother working in that place.
But I thought they were extinct.” She shook her head, trying to get
the words right. “I mean, they went out of business. How can one be
here? In the middle of the forest? I mean town. Oh, hell. Now
I’m
sounding batty.”

He waved her forward. “It is where you shall
eat.”

As she crossed the street, her eyes widened
at the other stores. There was an Eagle Army Navy, a Jordan Marsh
department store, and one with a weirder name, Zayre. “What are
those?” she asked, pointing to the buildings.

“They are places we replenish our supplies,
a store.” He looked at her with a glimmer of doubt in his eyes, as
though she were the slow one.

“I know they’re stores. I can see that. What
I mean is…” She paused, trying to figure exactly what she wanted to
know. “Is this where stores come after they die?” she
whispered.

Chapter 2

Alayna’s face burned at the look of shock
and then disappointment on his face. She was an intelligent person.
She’d worked on shopping center developments in the past, hell in
college, her intern assignment had been on a large strip mall. Just
because she was on sabbatical was no reason for babbling ridiculous
things.

He turned and walked toward the Woolworth’s.
“No, it is not.”

He left her standing in the middle of the
road, mouth agape at the scene. She’d heard of these stores, except
for the one beginning with Z, and they were all defunct. What were
they doing here? Operating? Where the hell was she? The street was
quiet, no one walked about. She hastened to catch up with Lorenzo,
not wanting to further alienate the only person talking to her.

Stepping into the department store relegated
her to an era she’d thought had died. Not that she’d ever stepped
foot into the real Woolworths, that was before her time. But her
mama and grandma regaled her with their memories of these stores
back in the day. A part of her connected to the atmosphere of the
place, linking her with two women she loved and respected.

Entering the store, she looked around,
wondering what they’d think if they were here. Soft background
music played songs she’d never heard before. In the rear of the
building, yet visible from the front, was a long counter with
stools where a few people sat chatting amicably to the man working
the grill. They stared at her as she walked through the aisles,
looking at the merchandise on display. The floor was sectioned off,
with men, women’s, boys, girls, infants, household goods, and
pantry items. It reminded her of a Big-Mart before they became big
and impersonal.

Hunger put on the back burner, she perused
the aisles, fingering the lingerie and price-checking the small
appliances. Her inner shopper leapt to the surface. These prices
were unbelievable, possibly two decades old or more. No one paid
$3.50 for an eight pack of paper towels. Salivating, she moved to
the women’s section.

“I thought you were hungry.”

This time she didn’t jump, not outwardly
anyway. Gritting her teeth, she turned to Lorenzo, uncertain if
there was a spark of teasing in his eyes or not. For a moment he
looked like a scamp, baiting her for some reaction. “I thought I
told you not to sneak up on me. I don’t like it,” she snapped,
ignoring the chuckles from the people at the counter.

He nodded and slinked off, leaving her
alone. Of course her stomach decided to growl again, and from the
looks she received, she was sure everyone in the store heard it.
Hanging the blouse back on the rack, she turned and headed for the
counter. She nodded at the man and the older woman who shared the
counter before turning to Lorenzo.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you. But I told
you I don’t like it when you sneak up on me. Maybe you could
whistle or something to let me know you’re coming.” She arched her
back and twisted her neck to get out the kinks.

He let out a long whistle and smirked. “Like
that? Will that please you?”

“Yes, but what would please me more is some
food in my belly and my brother’s truck running so I can go home.
Now, that would really please me.” She whipped open the menu and
read the few offerings. She could have a burger and fries. Chicken
strips and fries. Or fried fish and fries.

“I’ll have a cheeseburger and fries, please,
with a coke float,” she said to the cook who stood nearby. After
replacing the menu between the two napkin dispensers, she looked at
the others sitting nearby. The older woman smiled and nodded a
greeting. Not quite sure what the protocol was in this place, she
did what she’d normally do.

“Hello, how are you?” she asked, this time
really looking at the woman.

“I am fine, thank you.” The well-modulated
voice had a soothing affect and Alayna leaned forward to talk.

“Where am I? I mean, I know I’m in
Woolworths, but where is this place?”

The woman looked at Lorenzo and then her.
“You’re in Lawkharven, our town.”

“That’s what he said.” She tilted her head
toward her silent guide. “But I was in the forest quite a ways from
the main road. Is there another way into your town that I might
have missed before?”

The woman nodded. “Yes, there are many ways
in and out of our town.” Her eyes twinkled as she waved toward the
plate the cook held with her food.

Leaning back, Alayna inhaled the aroma of
ground beef and fries. “This hamburger is ground beef, right?” she
asked, wanting to be sure.

The cook looked at the burger and then her.
“Yes. Did you want another meat?”

“No. This is great, thank you.” After
offering a super blessing to cover anything that might be wrong
with her food, she bit into the burger and sighed at the explosion
of flavors. Her stomach growled one last time making sure she
swallowed...fast.

“Good,” she said around her food, since all
of them watched her as though waiting for some type of verdict. The
cook smiled as though he’d won an award, the older woman nodded and
Lorenzo beamed with what she’d call pride.

Eating only took part of her attention. With
the rest, she watched the four people at the counter interact with
each other. It became obvious as they talked softly that they all
knew each other. With his almond shaped eyes and squared face, the
cook appeared to Asian, except he had thick, curly blond hair. She
blinked and looked at his roots. Blond. He turned, glanced down at
her half-empty plate, and smiled. She almost choked at his light
blue eyes.

Coughing, she reached for her drink, took a
sip and peeked at the older woman again. Swarthy olive skintone,
thin dark hair, and light grey eyes. The man seated next to her was
a red head with lavender eyes and an even darker complexion. It was
as though someone had pulled a ladle from the hypothetical melting
pot of people and poured it into molds without giving thought to
the results. The people at this counter challenged everything she’d
learned in college about genetics. Her cloning theory rose to the
forefront, dampening her appetite. She needed to get the hell out
of here. Pushing back, she reached for her wallet and pulled out
her cash.

“That was really good. Thanks. How much is
it?” She hoped that whoever gave her a ride home would make a stop
at an ATM. She didn’t have much cash and no matter what, she
intended to leave as soon as possible.

“You don’t need to—”

“Five dollars will cover it,” the cook said
smoothly, interrupting Lorenzo.

She threw one of her fives on the counter
and grimaced. She hated not leaving a tip, but she needed to hang
onto the rest of her cash. “Thanks, it hit the spot.” After nodding
to everyone, she turned and left the building. She bumped into a
couple walking into the store. They smiled at her and walked
inside. On the sidewalk, she was surprised to see people walking on
the street, entering the stores, some with shopping bags in their
hands.

She turned to Lorenzo standing beside her.
“Were they on siesta or something?”

“Not really, this is just the way things
are.”

As he moved in the direction they’d come
from, she reluctantly followed him while looking at the people,
aware that she was the object of many stares. “Where are you
going?”

“I thought you wanted to check on your
vehicle.”

“Yeah, I do.” She watched the activity
dwindle until they turned the corner and stopped at what looked
like a warehouse. “I don’t remember seeing this before.”

He shrugged as if that were her problem, and
in a way it was. Opening the door, he moved to the side, ensuring
there was no way he’d touch any part of her.

Mentally, she rolled her eyes at what she
felt was overkill. The sound of her boots echoed on the concrete
floor of the large building. She saw her brother’s Rover at the far
end and quickened her pace. Mr. Silent stood looking at something
to the side; she couldn’t quite make out what it was from this
distance. As she got closer, her heart sped up. It couldn’t be what
she thought it was.
No way
. She came to the side of the
Rover and peeked under the hood.

She gasped in horror. “You took out the
engine?”

Chapter 3

A sneeze echoed in the stillness of the
night. The Geleets were using his people to kill humans with deadly
viruses that continued to wipe out millions. Khayden, Royce, and
Benicke froze. Khayden waved them back as he blended into the
darkness, becoming one with the air. Surging forward, he whipped
out the containment jar as he sent a mental command. The molecules
from the sneeze rushed into the jar, removing the toxic germs from
the air.

Royce, the Eastern Regent, snuck up behind
the Minthian, while Benicke appeared in front, startling him. For a
moment, no one spoke.

No one moved.

Khayden, Master Lawke, knew it would not
last long. His heartbeat picked up in anticipation, the hunt was
on.

One second they had their prey boxed in, the
next the Minthian disappeared with the wind, running at speeds
humans couldn’t see. This was a good thing, since it was early
afternoon and the streets were full of people.

The first to react, Khayden zipped after his
quarry. Nature’s Mother had ordered them to clean up what she
considered their messes, and since Minthians were corrupted Lawkes,
the crap had fallen on his desk. That thought spurred him on, as he
kept his quarry in sight. He heard Royce and Benicke somewhere
behind him.

With a mental push, he tried to direct the
Minthian into an industrial area that was mostly abandoned on
weekends. Initially, the Minthian rejected his direct order and
tried to steer in the opposite direction. Khayden cursed the
injected serum, which made opposition possible. Sometimes there was
just enough of the old Lawke remaining that an order from the
Master Lawke would be obeyed. Inhaling, he sent the order again,
pushing harder.

The Minthian headed toward the large
concrete building up ahead.

Khayden released a breath as he continued
pursuit. Containing this one would require more cunning on their
part. They’d been tracking the infected rebel for three days. Most
of the Minthians had been captured and erased with no problem,
especially given they didn’t fight with guns or swords. Those
weapons would be easier and offer fewer casualties. The Minthians
did worse. They ran and hid, since they were walking deadly
viruses; everywhere a creature stepped and breathed, lives—whether
plant, animal, or human— were affected and in most cases,
infected.

At least, that’s what his scientists, the
Murlins, told him. Either these creatures were evolving, which was
not good, or he’d been lured into a false sense of security
believing this was a problem easily solved, not good either. He
tamped down the spark of anger that thought produced, preferring to
remain focused on his quarry.

“
Go right
,” Khayden told Benicke
through their mental channels. “
I’m going up to block him.
Royce, make sure he does not pass you trying to escape.
”

Opening his senses, Khayden smiled now that
they were in the final round of the hunt. The Minthian was on the
second floor, winded and breathing heavily. At least in this, the
infection remained true. As a general rule, the virus restricted
energy amounts for excessive activity. And right about now, this
one should be down for a while. Looked like they would be going
home tonight. After informing his men of the whereabouts of their
prey, Khayden materialized in the corner, watching the former
Lawkmerian gasp for air, releasing deadly toxins—a fatal
exchange—inhaling life, exhaling death.